What is competence?
Competence is the command that enables a specific type of activity. Competence is knowing what, why, and how.
Competences can be developed everywhere, in studies, at work, or through hobbies. Recognition of competences strengthens your ability to build meaningful study and career paths. It can also increase motivation and speed up graduation.
Students’ career abilities include the recognition of the situations when something is accomplished and the means to document and evaluate how competence develops and is made visible. You can reflect on your studies and work to identify what kind of expertise they concretely produced. The groundwork is based on your self-knowledge. Self-awareness consists of your passions, personality, attitudes, values, and networks. Employers are interested in the same in you.
What is my area of expertise? How do I recognize my skills? In the Finnish culture, speaking of one’s skills is easily perceived as bragging. For this reason, it can be difficult to put your knowledge and skills into words.
However, a realistic understanding of one’s skills and speaking about them is not boastful. Instead, it can increase your confidence and self-assurance and be considered as a strength in the labour market. When you know what you know and you dare to say it to others, you are more likely to find a suitable and meaningful job.
What does competence consist of?
Competence consists of knowledge of facts. It also contains both vocational skills and generic skills, such as learning ability and IT skills. Competence also includes personal characteristics, for example, your experience, operating models and principles, and the attitudes and approach to work.
Task 1. Watch the webinar Mapping your skills and competences. You need to register first with your email address to be able to join the webinar (Momentum project 2021)
Knowing your skills and competencies is essential in job seeking and overall in career planning. How else to promote yourself to interesting companies, headhunters and other work life connections? In addition, by mapping your skills and competencies, you can widen up the possibilities you have – both on job seeking as well as self-employment!
On this webinar the main objective is to help you to think about your competencies on a wider way and by doing so, to broaden up the possibilities on where and how to promote your expertise.
Task 2. What kind of expertise do you have now?
Explore the competence areas below and describe your current competences. Create a list of your skills and describe the quality of your skills from 1 to 5 (1 is poor and 5 is excellent)
Your expertise can consist of the following competences
Social skills: teamworking skills, interpersonal skills, flexibility, and adaptability
Communication skills: spoken and written communication skills in one’s first language, presentation skills, communication skills in foreign languages
Technical skills: IT skills, ability to use technical equipment
Business and financial acumen: recognition and understanding of the mechanisms and probabilities of economic development, competence in financial administration and management and cost accounting, competence in marketing and selling
International competence: communication skills in foreign languages, knowledge of a specific area, country, or culture
Generic workplace skills: skills in creative thinking, learning skills, problem-solving skills, project management, and leadership skills
Source: Käännös. Sujuvat työnhakumarkkinat –hanke (Flexible Job Seeking project). Creative Commons Nimeä-EiKaupallinen-JaaSamoin 4.0 Kansainvälinen -lisenssillä.
Task 3. My Features and Strengths
1. What kind of roles do you have in your life?
For example, you are someone’s child, brother or sister, student, friend, or club member. Write down your roles.
2. What kind of qualities do you have in that role? (e.g. as a student: active, punctual, caring, etc.) Write down the qualities in each role.
3. Choose the qualities that you want to maintain and strengthen in your life. Write down those qualities.
Source: Palaset paikolleen – Vaihtoehdoista valinnoiksi – urasuunnittelun malli ja sen työvälineet. Korkeakoulustartti-hanke 2020.
Personality and Self-Awareness
You can try to change your attitudes, but first, you need to know yourself and think honestly who you are and what you want.
Here is the list of the most important work community skills
1. Interaction skills, in particular listening
2. Valuation and respect as the basis for action
3. Openness and integrity as a source of trust
4. Empathy, the ability to understand or feel what another person is experiencing
5. Ability to be genuinely present in the moment, showing interest and being focused
6. Emotional intelligence, ability to understand the meaning of emotions and use such understanding at work
7. Self-awareness, identifying one’s own strengths and weaknesses
8. Manners, being mindful and tactful to others verbally and nonverbally
9. Self-reflection ability, skills to self-evaluate and analyse one’s own actions
10. Learning ability, maintaining the relevance of one’s competences in the times of change
What are you like as an employee and member of a work community? Are you “a debater”, “a mediator”, “a defender” or “an adventurer”? Or perhaps “efficient performer” or “enthusiast planner”? At work, self-awareness and self-knowledge save lots of time and help you avoid frustration. They help you understand yourself and others and to highlight everyone’s best features and resources.
Task 4. Take Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test
Think about what the test reveals and if you can recognize yourself in it. What is your “work self” on the basis of the test?
Describe the results of the test and your thoughts on the validity of the test results – do you think that is what you are like? Write your thoughts down for yourself.
Source: Käännös. Sujuvat työnhakumarkkinat –hanke (Flexible Job Seeking project). Creative Commons Nimeä-EiKaupallinen-JaaSamoin 4.0 Kansainvälinen -lisenssillä.
Strengths
You can start identifying your own strengths by thinking what inspires you. Identifying your strengths is much more important than focusing on weaknesses. Acknowledging one’s strengths does not eliminate the weaknesses or deny their existence. It does not mean that you just continue doing what you already do well. You can use your strengths in new areas, where they have not been used yet.
One way to find your strengths is to consider how you have coped with difficult situations earlier in life. Which strengths have helped you to move on?
Focusing on your strengths inspires and gives you energy. It is worth thinking what you are attracted to, immersed in, and where you have been particularly skilled.
1. Attention: What do you naturally pay attention to? For example, what do you read about in a magazine or what do you notice when you walk in an unfamiliar place?
2. Fast learning: What do you learn effortlessly, even right away when you hear about it for the first time? Fast learning may be an important clue to where your strengths are.
3. Motivation: What do you do just for its own sake? Strong internal motivation often tells about strengths.
4. Voice and gestures: When do your voice, language and speech, and gestures become energetic and active?
Task 5. Conduct a strength test at https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register. Consider the results of the test and list what kind of strengths you got.